The recent announcement by the Sindh Minister for Culture and Tourism, Sassi Palejo, to hand over the Hindu Gymkhana to the Hindu community after the evacuation of the National Academy of Performing Arts (Napa) has ruffled many feathers, especially those in Napa.

The Seth Ramgopal Goverdhandas Mohatta Hindu Gymkhana, commonly known as the Hindu Gymkhana, was mainly used by the Ministry of Culture for cultural programmes before Napa was inaugurated by President Pervez Musharraf in February 2005. The Ministry had urged Pakistanis to contribute towards building Pakistan’s ‘soft image’ both at home as well as abroad. Zia Mohyeddin was appointed the Chairman of Napa.

Moreover, the President had announced a grant of Rs10 million for the academy to begin with and said that anyone willing to contribute this amount will have his/her name placed on the roll of honours. Arshad Mehmood, Director Administration & Programmes, Napa, said that “It (the Hindu Gymkhana) was put to much better use before.” Mehmood, a veteran actor and composer, said it is unfortunate that the discipline of performing arts has been ignored and has never been accorded an academic position. “Zubin Mehta [the famous conductor associated with many philharmonic orchestras] is regarded as a maestro, but when some Khan sahib performs, he is regarded as a meerasi. It is pathetic,” lamented Mehmood.

According to reports, Mehmood had argued that the Culture Department’s permission is not required for the project as the Hindu Gymkhana was not a protected site. However, the Additional Secretary of the department, Rabiya Javery Agha, had maintained that it indeed was a protected site and obtaining permission from the advisory committee for any changes there was mandatory. Agha also noted that Napa had neither sought nor been granted permission by the Committee. Sources pointed out that both the Karachi Building and Control Authority (KBCA) and the Culture Department were merely engaged in a letter-writing exercise to keep their files updated as they did not intend to take action in this regard.

On inquiring if Napa had plans to move to some other location, Mehmood said that currently there is no such plan. According to him, artistes are the most deprived section of the society. “No artiste has been made a Senator or an MNA/MPA. On the other hand, in Bollywood, there is a long list of actors who are involved in politics, for example, Nargis, Sunil Dutt, Amitabh Bachhan and Shatrughan Sinha,” he explained.

Napa had earlier encountered obstacles in functioning normally as the KBCA, in 2006, directed the former to stop the illegal construction being carried out at the Hindu Gymkhana. According to sources, Napa had demolished an open-air theatre at the gymkhana building and wanted to construct a building at the protected site with funding from the United Arab Emirates (UAE). No one, not even the concerned property owner, is authorised to carry out any demolition, repairs or new construction at a site protected under the Act – failure to comply means a lengthy prison term and heavy fines. If inevitable, any such activity requires permission from the Cultural Heritage Advisory Committee headed by the Chief Secretary, the sources added.

The objection, it seems, had no effect as a 200-seat auditorium is almost ready in the place where the open-air theatre stood once. “It is wrong to say that we demolished it. It was such a desolate and dirty place. Residents of the police line were using it as a garbage dump”, said Mehmood. The new auditorium, when completed, will have a state-of-the-art acoustic system, riggings, actor rooms, wardrobes and make-up rooms. “About one million dollars have been spent on it and another one million dollars are needed to get the latest equipment, like the kind found in Broadway (at New York) theatres,” he explained.

When asked how Napa is building an auditorium inside the compound of a heritage building, Mehmood said that the auditorium had been built on the old amphitheatre site and permission from the KBCA had been sought. He also explained that the Sindh Chief Secretary was also the Chairman of the Heritage Committee and he had approved the auditorium project. Furthermore, Mehmood denied the allegation that President Pervez Musharraf’s daughter Ayla Raza is associated with Napa. He also explained that it was also a misconception that students at Napa are from Defence and Clifton areas only. Around 99 per cent are from the middle income areas of Karachi and their fees are negligible as compared to other such institutions. “We have nine trimesters and one trimester costs Rs6,000 which brings it to a total of Rs54,000 for the three-year course. Our actual cost for one student is about Rs1.8 million and we cannot take more than eight students in one class,” Mehmood elaborated. He further told The News that as it is a non-profit organisation registered with the Security Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), Napa cannot declare its profits, and “whatever we earn is spent on Napa,” he added.

Dr Muhammad Arif, Director of Archeology, Southern Circle, informed The News that according to the Heritage Protection Act, the façade of the protected building site cannot be changed nor can any new construction be initiated inside the compound of such a building. According to him, new construction may disfigure the protected building.